I always carry on my hiking pack. Until now, I do have to check my hiking poles and blade into a cardboard tube. Looks like I will soon be able to dispense with the entire baggage check and claim process!

Hmm, last time golf clubs, hockey sticks and the like were allowed in the cabin was long before the airlines started charging for checked baggage. Have the geniuses in the TSA actually seen the average aircraft's overhead bins 2/3 of the way through the boarding process? Good luck being able to shove in a rollaboard when some dufus before you has brought on sporting equipment.

What's the chance that the airlines will find a way to introduce a surcharge for anyone bringing sporting equipment on board?

I do find it amusing to see one item in particular listed on the TSA site as a prohibited item (emphasis below is mine) –

"Full-size baseball, softball and cricket bats are prohibited items in carry-on luggage and must be placed in checked baggage."

Aside from annoying the heck out of the sizable H1-B visa holding Indian population working in the IT industry, who else is going to know what on earth the sport of cricket is?

"Aside from annoying the heck out of the sizable H1-B visa holding Indian population working in the IT industry, who else is going to know what on earth the sport of cricket is?"

Be careful there. Besides the natives of India and Pakistan, there are more from Jamaica and similar Commonwealth places. In the summer, the cricket match is held on a sports field about one hundred yards from my place.

>"Takes effect April 25, useful items include small swiss army knives"

Cool, so only another 29 flights before I can bring my Victorinox Classic with me.

I remember, not long after 9-11, the flight attendant was handing our summer sausage snacks in really thick shrink-wrap. And apologizing to every row of seats, "I'm sorry." "Yes, I know, you can't open it.", "No, I don't have a knife either", and "I've only got these plastic knifes to hand out."

So are now allowed to play cricket in the center aisle as long as we use plastic whiffle bats?

I suspect they still won't allow some kinds of bats on board (Mexican free-tailed, for instance). I asked, at one point, and for a valid reason, about rats in the cabin and there seems to be a "other passengers would freak the hell out" rule about rats, snakes, etc.

@bob – My comment was tongue-in-cheek, no offense intended. I'm a Brit, by the way, and we are used to being on the receiving end of superior cricketing skills from former colonies. It just tickled my fancy that – of all sports to highlight – someone in the TSA thought to include cricket.

Ben: I live in the subarctic but most of my toxic-waste job sites are in the 48 states. I can get anywhere in 3 flights, but it takes me 3 flights to get anywhere. Coming up in the next month, I've got: a trip to NYC, Father/8-year-old daughter road trip to Vegas during Spring Break (not for the white-trash culture, but for the rock climbing in Red Rock Canyon and the $30/night hotel rooms), a day of safety training in LA, escorting the middle-school math team I coach to State Finals (700 miles away), and then a meeting with a client and the project manager in LowCal. I'm only at 8,000 miles YTD but March is about to pick up. Most years end up with about 3x round the world (80,000 miles-ish).

Not scheduled yet, but likely very soon, is pilot testing some remedial technology at a gasoline spill site at the Denver Airport and, hopefully, escorting teenager mathematicians to the National competition in DC in early May. But apparently, I can bring a penknife for that trip!

It appears they are measuring from the handle though, and not the blade itself, which would put me EDC Case just over the limit. Looks like I'll need to pick up a peanut for flying…

Seriously though, molded handles?! How the he77 does that make a knife more dangerous?!
And no razor blades or box cutters?! How are those going to cause any more damage than any other knife of the same size?

Lastly, I don't quite understand the width restriction either, although it doesn't bother me as much.

Its only a matter of time before some whacko decides to try something stupid with a small blade. Sure, this is great for the normal people who would rather weigh backpacking gear in grams and put them on a spreadsheet, but it only takes one nutjob…

Not to get too philosophical over this — but the "it only takes one nutjob" is exactly the idiotc mindset that bureaucrats fall for time and again. Doing nothing will exact a terrible cost. But doing something will exact some cost as well. The proper thing is to weigh the cost of safeguards against the benefits so the process does not become counter productive.

Is one incident too many? Then imagine if we apply that mindset to automobiles. Imagine banning cars after one nutjob drag race.

My beef is still with the stupid decision to make EVERYONE take off their shoes just because of one idiot terrorist wannabe.

If I had to fight someone to the death, I would rather have a large blunt object like a stainless steel water bottle instead of a wimpy little non locking folding knife that is going to close on my fingers when I try to stab someone. Even a pair of pointy scissors is going to do more damage.
Seriously, a small non locking folding knife is not a deadly weapon.